MaidBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

Billing Post-Construction Cleans: Deposits, Final Invoices and Builder Accounts

A post-construction clean is the hardest job most cleaning companies do. Drywall dust on every surface, stickers on every window, paint on the floor, sawdust in the cabinet tracks. It also tends to be the hardest job to bill, because the scope is hard to see until the team is standing in the house and the client is often a builder or remodeler with their own way of paying.

Similar to Move-Outs, but Messier

If you read Deposits on Move-Out Cleans: Using an Invoice to Hold the Date, much of the deposit thinking carries over. Post-construction adds two complications: the scope can grow once the team gets inside, and the client may be a business that wants invoices on its own terms.

The fix for both is the same: get the scope written down before the job, decide your policy for changes, and pick a billing setup that matches who is paying.

Pricing the Scope Before the Job

Post-construction pricing usually starts from square feet and number of bathrooms, then adds the parts that make these jobs heavy. Build those into your service list so every estimate uses the same lines:

• The post-construction clean itself, priced by size.
• Interior Windows, often including sticker and residue removal.
• Inside Cabinets, where sawdust collects.
• Baseboards and Walls & Doors.
• Blinds, if they are already installed.

Send it as an estimate the client approves online. The cleaning details entered on the estimate carry onto the job when it is approved, so the team sees the full scope on the phone. Before-and-after photos taken in the team app stay with the job, which helps a great deal if anyone questions the final bill.

Deposits on Post-Construction Work

Many cleaning companies take a deposit on post-construction cleans for homeowners, for the same reasons as move-outs: one-time work, a big ticket and a date that is hard to refill. Your deposit policy is your call; the invoice is just the tool. Add a deposit line to your service list, send it as an invoice when the job is booked, and show it as paid on the final invoice so the balance is clear.

For builders you work with regularly, a deposit on every job usually is not worth the friction. A monthly statement fits better, covered below.

When the Scope Changes on Site

Construction schedules slip. The team arrives and finds the painters are still there, or the trim went in after the estimate and now there are twice as many baseboards, or a second floor needs a second visit. Decide ahead of time how you handle it:

• Note it on the job. The team writes what they found in the job notes and takes photos.
• Tell the client before billing more. A quick text through two-way texting with a photo: “Upstairs still has paint crews, we can come back Thursday for that floor.”
• Add lines for agreed changes. Extra work the client agreed to goes on the invoice as its own line, priced from your service list.
• Review before charging. For post-construction, it often makes sense to look over the final invoice in the office before taking payment, instead of charging the moment the team taps Complete.

Clear lines plus photos settle almost every question about a big post-construction bill. More on that in When a Customer Questions a Cleaning Invoice: Photos, Notes and a Calm Reply.

Builder and Remodeler Accounts

A builder who sends you a post-construction clean every few weeks is a commercial client, not a homeowner. Treat them like one. Set the builder up as one client with many addresses, one per job site, and set them to Monthly. Every post-construction clean at every site collects into one statement for the month, with each line labeled with the address.

That gives the builder's office what it wants (one bill, every job site listed) and gives you one payment to watch instead of a dozen. If the builder's office needs a job number or lot number on each line, put it in the address name or notes you use for that site so it shows up where they can see it.

Sales Tax and Post-Construction

In some places, cleaning that is part of construction is taxed differently from regular house cleaning. Invoices in MaidBossPro can carry sales tax set up once, but whether and how it applies to post-construction work is a question for your accountant, not a guess.

Big Jobs, Clear Bills

Post-construction cleans pay well when they are billed well. Price the scope from your service list, take a deposit when your policy calls for it, note and photograph changes, review the final invoice before charging, and put repeat builders on a monthly statement. To see how estimates, invoices and monthly statements fit together, visit the MaidBossPro cleaning invoicing software page.